Of Phantoms and Angels
by beguiledbythephantom
Summary: Christine has something she needs to tell Erik.


I had to find him. I went to Madame Giry, just like the first time. She gave me the same displeased look but this time refused to tell me where he was. _"The wife of Raoul de Changy should not be in the presences of a man like him." _I started crying. She had to help me...I needed to see him. After hours of hounding her she finally caved and scribbled down and address on a piece of paper and tossed it to me. I thanked her and rushed out. The quicker I found him, the better.

The address she gave me was a tiny house just outside of Paris. All the lights were out and it looked like it hadn't been lived in in many years. I pulled my cloak tighter around myself as I pushed open the door. "Erik. I know you are here. We need to talk." There was no responce for a very long time and just as I started to give up a shadow moved and Erik was standing in front of me.

"What do you want, Mrs Changy?" There was such venom in his voice I felt as if he had physically stuck me. I took a step backwards.

"Erik, don't. You are the one who left." I didn't even see him move but the next thing I knew his body was pinning me against a wall and his lips were dangerously close to my ear.

"You don't think I know you only fucked me out of pity? I left so you wouldn't have to go through the horror of waking up next to me. So you wouldn't have to acknowledge what you had done and more importantly, with who. Did you tell your precious vicomte that I forced you when he realized you weren't a virgin?" I knew he didn't mean what he was saying but that thought didn't dull the sting from his words. Then realized he had been drinking, I could smell the sweet bitterness of wine on his breath. Erik never drank. I reached up very slowly, as if approaching an angry animal and softly caressed his uncovered cheek. Just as my skin made contact with his he stepped back grabbed me throwing me to the ground, as if I was no better then a piece of trash.

"Don't fucking touch me...you whore. That's what you are, Christine. You are nothing but a filthy whore." I couldn't stop the tears his words caused. This wasn't my Erik, the Erik that had so gently made love to me a little over a month ago and had cried as I held his trembling body against mine. I needed that man, the Erik that I loved, not the man that hovered over me, ready to strike at any moment.

"Erik, please stop. You don't mean what you are saying...you are scaring me." My voice broke and he moved as if to hit me but I beat him to it. My hand hit his exposed cheek with such force he stumbled back and fell. His own hand now lay where mine had just been and he looked over at me with wide eyes, full of fear.

"Christine...oh god." He shook his head as if he was hoping I was just a figment of his imagination. "Tell me that...I didn't do what I remember doing." His voice was no longer full of hatred but not it contained grief with a hint of self-loathing. I crawled my way over to him. If only all of Raoul's friends could see how 'unlady like' I was behaving now. They would all die of a heart attack. I could almost hear the one with blue hair _No proper lady would ever crawl across the floor. _And it would be an added bonus if they saw who I was crawling too.

I pulled Erik into and awkward hug and he cried into my shoulder. Alternating between saying he was sorry, that he loves me, and that he doesn't deserve my forgiveness. After a while his tears dried and his words turned into silence. I thought he has fallen asleep, until his strained, tired voice softly filled the air.

"Christine...I don't want to sound rude but what exactly do I owe the pleasure of your company too?"

I took a deep breath and gently moved his head till I was looking into his eyes. The mismatched green and blue was all I could see in the darkness of the room. It was now or never. "I needed to tell you something." When he didn't voice anything I took it as a sign to continue, "I am pregnant." The world seemed to stop. I am pretty sure Erik wasn't breathing. My hands were still on his face and I gently shook him. "Erik, did you-" His deformed lips covered mine before I could finish but pulled away just as quickly, however he didn't go far. His forehead has pressed against mine and I could feel his breaths caressing my lips.

"Is it mine?" His whisper was so low I had to strain to hear him properly. I could only nod in response to his question and he captured my lips again. He stood up, not letting go of me and pulled me flush against his body. As my hands encircled his neck he pulled away again. "Are you sure?" I nodded again but he didn't look convinced.

"Erik, this child..." I grabbed his hand and placed it over my still flat stomach. "this life we created is part you and me. Raoul doesn't want kids and he went to great length the night we married to prevent any 'accidents' from happening." Erik fell to his knees and placed a kiss on my stomach before wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning his left cheek against me. I ran my hands through the fake hair of his wig.

"Oh, Christine...you came to me with this news and I...said those things to you! I called you a...Christine I...pushed you to the ground." He jumped up and started to check her over, "Did I hurt you? Chris-" He started to say something else but I cut him off with a kiss. He tried to pull away but I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck again and held tight, deepening the kiss. I ran my tongue along his lower lip, asking for permission and he granted me my wish. He moaned softly as my tongue met his and his hands found my hips, pulling me flush against him. I could feel exactly what my kiss was doing to him and I needed to stop before this got out of hand. I could taste the wine he had drank earlier and I forgot all the reasons why I needed to stop this. His hands on my hips became more firm and he picked me up, carrying me over to one of the larger shadows of the room, which turned out to be a couch. Laying me down gently against the cold cushions he covered my body with his, pushing me into the couch as his lips found my neck and his hands went in search for the zipper of my dress. I knew the minute I unbuttoned his shirt and felt his skin under my fingertips how this night was going to end...

The first thoughts that passed through my mind when I woke up was one: that my bed normally did not breathe, two: I was naked, three: the reason my bed was breathing was because it was a person, four: that person was Erik, and five: Erik was still here. _Erik was still here and he was naked also and unmasked._ Then the events of last night came to mind. Every touch, every caress, every sigh and moan, every confession of love that passed our lips, all of it. I stretched and the tall tell ache between my legs confirmed what we had done. Erik clearly wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon, he probably hadn't slept since...well in a month. I eased myself off of him and found his shirt and my panties among the scattered clothes on the floor and put them on. His eyes fluttered open and I quickly bent down and placed a kiss on his right cheek then I moved closer to his ear. "Go back to sleep, love. Is there food in the kitchen?" He sleepily nodded yes and rolled onto his side. I adjusted the blanket he must have gotten sometime in the night and went in search of food.

After looking over the bare kitchen twice to make sure I didn't miss anything I settled on toast and an orange with a glass of water. I wasn't even a quarter of a way through the toast when a wave of nausea hit me. I barely made it to the sink before the few bites of toast I did swallow came back up. I broke out in a cold sweat as my body tried to rid me of everything I had ever eaten. I felt Erik's hands gather my hair and he held it gently at the base of my neck away from the mess in the sink. I tried to rinse the taste out of my mouth with sips of water and turned in his arms to come face to well bare chest and I leaned y head against it while a wave a dizziness hit. Somewhere in my mind I made a mental note that he only had his dress pants on. The image of a sleepy Erik walking around in just his dress pants made me smile but I didn't get long to think about is because he scooped me up in his arms and carried me down a short hallway to a small bedroom and laid me down on the bed. He sat down next to me and placed his lips to my forehead.

"You aren't running a fever...is this the first time you've had nausea?" I couldn't help but simply stare at him. After a few moments I realized he was expecting an answer.

"What?"

"Have you had morning sickness before this or was this the first time?" He repeated it like it was the most normal question in the world, maybe from other people, but not from him. He must have heard what I was thinking because he continued, "I spent many years alone Christine. Most of that time I spent learning, reading books on every subject. One of those subjects that intrigued me was pregnancy and how a women's body...your body will change during the next eight months and what...the father should expect also...just in case, someday, someone...you, could love me enough to allow me to be that close...I never had anyone to teach me how to raise a child so I learned from books." I sat up and pulled him into a hug.

"This was the first time I have had any symptoms from the pregnancy." I could honestly feel his smile against my shoulder and I heard a muffled 'good'.

"What? Did you just say, good?" He looked up and smiled.

"I don't want to miss any part of this.." He stopped and looked away, "That is if you want me to be apart of it. I don't know your plan...if you will go back to...to that boy or if you plan to leave him...I will understand if you don't want a child around me." My heart broke and I grabbed his face to make sure he was looking at me.

"Erik! Don't say things like that. Why would I still be here if I didn't want you? Why would I seek you out, again, if I planned to return to Raoul?" I raised my left hand, my bare left hand. "Did you not notice that I no longer wear his ring? I left him a note before I came to find you, telling him it was over and I left his ring. I didn't tell him I was looking for you or about this." I placed my left hand against my stomach. "but I am sure he will assume I left him for you and I could care less. I don't want to stay in Paris, it holds to many bad memories for the both of us. I want our family to start somewhere new, where there is no Phantom of the Opera or the wife of Raoul de Changy. You are the father of his child and he or she will know you as that only. I love you Erik. You asked me once to share one love, one life time with you and I am saying yes. Anywhere you go, let me go to." Erik's eyes held such hope and happiness.

"Stay here...I'll be right back." With that he dashed out of the room and I heard things being moved about down the hall and then I heard his footsteps returning towards the room. He pulled me off the bed and bent down on one knee. "Christine Daaé, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" In his hand he held the same ring he placed on my finger the night of Don Juan. I wouldn't have it any other way as I nodded my head and he once again slipped the ring onto my left ring finger only this time I didn't remove his mask, but I pulled him into a kiss and I knew we would face the world together.

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